List of United States Cabinet members who have served more than eight years

This is a list of United States Cabinet members who have served for more than two presidential terms.

More than eight years in a single cabinet office edit

Secretary Department Length of service Presidencies Years of service notes
  James Wilson Agriculture 15 years, 364 days McKinley, T. Roosevelt, Taft 1897–1913 [1]
  Harold Ickes Interior 12 years, 346 days F. Roosevelt, Truman 1933–1946 [2]
  Albert Gallatin Treasury 12 years, 270 days Jefferson, Madison 1801–1814 [3]
  Frances Perkins Labor 12 years, 116 days F. Roosevelt, Truman 1933–1945 [4]
  Cordell Hull State 11 years, 271 days F. Roosevelt 1933–1944 [5]
  Henry Morgenthau Treasury 11 years, 202 days F. Roosevelt, Truman 1934–1945 [6]
  William Wirt Justice 11 years, 112 days Monroe, J.Q. Adams 1817–1829 [7]
  Andrew Mellon Treasury 11 years, 8 days Harding, Coolidge, Hoover 1921–1932 [8]
  James Davis Labor 9 years, 269 days Harding, Coolidge, Hoover 1921–1930 [9]
  William H. Crawford Treasury 8 years, 135 days Madison, Monroe, J.Q. Adams 1816–1825 [10]
  Tom Vilsack Agriculture First tenure: 7 years, 359 days
Second tenure: 3 years, 28 days
Obama, Biden 2009–2017
2021–present
[11]

More than eight years over multiple cabinet offices edit

Name Office Began service Ended service Days of service Years of service Presidencies
 Elaine Chao Secretary of Labor January 29, 2001 January 20, 2009 4,356 11 years, 341 days George W. Bush
Secretary of Transportation January 31, 2017 January 11, 2021 Donald Trump
 
Henry L. Stimson
Henry L. Stimson[12]
Secretary of War May 22, 1911 March 4, 1913 3,991 10 years, 342 days William Howard Taft
July 10, 1940 September 21, 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman
Secretary of State March 28, 1929 March 4, 1933 Herbert Hoover
 
George Shultz[13]
Secretary of Labor January 22, 1969 July 1, 1970 3,603 9 years,

318 days

Richard Nixon
Secretary of the Treasury June 12, 1972 May 8, 1974
Secretary of State July 16, 1982 January 20, 1989 Ronald Reagan
 
Levi Woodbury
Secretary of the Navy[a] May 23, 1831 June 30, 1834 3,574 9 years,

289 days

Andrew Jackson
Secretary of the Treasury July 1, 1834 March 4, 1841 Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren
 
Robert Smith
Secretary of the Navy[a] July 27, 1801 March 4, 1809 3,534 9 years,

249 days

Thomas Jefferson
Secretary of State March 6, 1809 April 1, 1811 James Madison
  William H. Crawford Secretary of War August 1, 1815 October 22, 1816 3,505 9 years, 220 days James Madison
Secretary of the Treasury October 22, 1816 March 6, 1825 James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams
 
Caspar Weinberger[14]
Secretary of Health & Human Services February 12, 1973 August 8, 1975 3,406 9 years,

121 days

Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
Secretary of Defense January 21, 1981 November 23, 1987 Ronald Reagan
 
Henry A. Wallace[15]
Secretary of Agriculture March 4, 1933 September 4, 1940 3,310 9 years, 25 days Franklin D. Roosevelt
Secretary of Commerce March 2, 1945 September 20, 1946 Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman
  Lewis Cass Secretary of War August 1, 1831 October 4, 1836 3,272 8 years, 352 days Andrew Jackson
Secretary of State March 6, 1857 December 14, 1860 James Buchanan
  John C. Calhoun Secretary of War December 8, 1817 March 4, 1825 2,986 8 years, 66 days James Monroe
Secretary of State April 1, 1844 March 10, 1845 John Tyler and
James K. Polk
 
Elihu Root
Secretary of War August 1, 1899 January 31, 1904 2.933 8 years,

13 days

William McKinley and

Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of State July 19, 1905 January 27, 1909 Theodore Roosevelt

Near misses and technicalities edit

Several individuals have come close to this distinction; only having have missed it by months, weeks, or days. Listed below are the names of individuals who came within a year of the achievement.

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Secretary of the Navy was a cabinet-level post until 1947, when the position was put under the Secretary of Defense.

References edit

  1. ^ "Former Secretaries - USDA". www.usda.gov.
  2. ^ "Past Secretaries". www.doi.gov. 1 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Albert Gallatin (1801 - 1814)". www.treasury.gov.
  4. ^ "Hall of Secretaries: Francis Perkins - U.S. Department of Labor". www.dol.gov.
  5. ^ "Cordell Hull - People - Department History - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov.
  6. ^ "Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (1934 - 1945)". www.treasury.gov.
  7. ^ "Attorney General: William Wirt". www.justice.gov. 23 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Andrew W. Mellon (1921 - 1932)". www.treasury.gov.
  9. ^ "Hall of Secretaries: James J. Davis - U.S. Department of Labor". www.dol.gov.
  10. ^ "William H. Crawford (1816 - 1825)". www.treasury.gov.
  11. ^ "Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack". www.usda.gov.
  12. ^ "Henry Stimson - Nuclear Museum". ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  13. ^ "George Pratt Shultz - People - Department History - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  14. ^ "Caspar W. Weinberger". history.defense.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  15. ^ "Henry A. Wallace – The Wallace Centers of Iowa". Retrieved 2023-03-18.